Kim initially appeared to deliver an unexpected conciliatory gesture to neighbouring South Korea and hinted he may sending athletes to next month’s PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

In his televised message, Kim said he could send a delegation to the games and was willing to entere talks with his counterparts in Seoul to thrash out the deails.

But he soon reverted to type when he made it clear his country would not give up its provocative nuclear and missile test programs and could not resist using the occasion for more sabre-rattling.

And he told North Koreans: "The entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office. 

“They should accurately be aware that this is not a threat but a reality.

"No matter how much America wants to attack us with their military might and nuclear power, they know that now we possess such great nuclear power and therefore they will not dare.” 

Kim boasted his country's greatest achievement of 2017 was the "historic accomplishment of completing our nuclear capabilities”.

South Korea’s People's Party condemned Kim for continuing to make nuclear threats saying that it was "unacceptable in any case”.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party was also outraged by the dictator’s New Year address.

Spokesman Chang Je-won said: “Kim would not hesitate to hold the whole globe hostage with its nuclear threats, while at the same time speaking of peace through inter-Korean talks and wishing the best for the PyeongChang games.

"It is a shallow charm offensive. President Moon Jae-in must stop begging Pyongyang for talks and face the truth."

The minor conservative Bareun Party said Kim's proposal for talks was doubtful and warned: "The talks proposal must not be North's last resort to buy for time.”

But the ruling Democratic Party said Kim’s remarks were a positive sign that he wishes for the success of the Winter Olympics and proposed talks with Seoul to discuss necessary measures, including the dispatching of a North Korean delegation.

Party spokeswoman Kim Hyun said: “The government needs to act composedly so that we can talk to the North about what is needed to improve strained ties, such as ministerial-level talks.

"The North, of course, must prove its sincerity by stopping all acts of provocation for the realisation of inter-Korean talks and the stability of the peninsula."

The minority centrist People's Party echoed views of the ruling party.

It said: “We wish that it becomes a turning point for the two Koreas to make amends.

"It appears that Kim's message was an answer to the government's decision to delay the military drills with the US during the Olympics."

Since coming to power, Kim has overseen a dramatic increase in the pace of North Korea's missile program.

Pyongyang has now fired off 23 missiles, improving its technology with each launch.

In September, the regime carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.